Chapter 124: A Willful Contest

Zhang Qiyang did not hesitate. "Let's go with what Xiao Wa said. We'll bet on a meal."

Li Xuan gestured quickly between Zhang Qiyang and herself. "You mean... just the two of us eating alone?"

"That's fine. If we're going to eat alone, don't let Fatty Qin know, or she'll use her thick skin to come and mooch a meal."

Li Xuan smiled, clearly intrigued by the wager. To be honest, before she really understood Zhang Qiyang, she had truly despised this spoiled young master who had exposed her real name. But now, as she gradually came to know him—whether it was his charisma or his talent that drew her in—she found herself wanting to delve deeper into this young master who was so full of contradictions.

Chen Ke tried to dissuade them. "You are both public figures. If you go out to eat alone and get photographed, it'll be trouble."

Zhang Qiyang understood Chen Ke's concern. "Going out is indeed a hassle. How about this: whoever loses has to invite the other over to their place for a meal, and they have to cook it themselves. No ordering takeout. How's that?"

Li Xuan became even more interested. "Can you cook? If you lose, don't try to fob me off with instant noodles."

Zhang Qiyang boasted, "My pen name is 'Kitchen Knife'! Do you really think I can't cook?"

Xiao Wa asked in surprise, "Brother Pao, you can cook? A wealthy young master like you shouldn't have ever set foot in a kitchen, right?"

"That's where you're wrong. My cooking is certainly no Michelin star level, but it's more than enough to fool the average person."

"You're full of it! I'm really going to have to taste your cooking this time."

"I'm the one who should be tasting your cooking! Don't tell me after all this talk that you can't cook and are just going to feed me luncheon meat and flatbread."

Even before the performance had begun, the two were already trading barbs like needles against wheat.

Chen Ke threw cold water on them. "Can you two be serious? Don't end up losing the championship—that would be embarrassing."

Li Xuan said confidently, "Impossible. With such a brilliant new track from Young Master Yang, I’m dead set on winning this week's championship!"

Xiao Wa suddenly interjected, "Brother Pao, Li Xuan has already revealed her new song. To be fair, you should show us yours too. I'm dying to know what song you're going to go all out with this week; I can't wait until the weekend to hear it."

Li Xuan was also curious. "Before you came over, you said you went to EastNet to record a demo? Was it for this week's competition piece? Stop holding out and let us hear it."

"This... I really can't let you hear it. It's not that I'm hiding it on purpose, but the demo I recorded is a rough draft of a rough draft of a rough draft. It doesn't even have one-fifth of the final effect; calling it a 'leftover' would be generous. I just recorded it to appease the production crew. If you listen to it, you'll definitely underestimate me. I’d rather not give you that chance."

Xiao Wa was confused. "Why would you record a garbage demo for the crew?"

"Time is tight. I haven't finished writing the lyrics yet. If you want to hear it, wait for the weekend's performance."

Xiao Wa praised, "You're really going for perfection to craft a godly song, aren't you?"

"Absolutely."

Zhang Qiyang was very confident about the piece he was going to perform. He hadn't lied to Li Xuan and the others about not finishing the lyrics; he truly hadn't finished them yet. Or, to be more precise, he hadn't finished *editing* them.

He was going to perform a piece by Eminem this week. Profanity was inevitable, but he wasn't looking to change the swearing—he needed to edit out the parts where Eminem sang about caring for his daughter, things that didn't fit his own persona, and turn it into a work that was uniquely his.

"I'm curious, Young Master Yang, are you going to perform another rock-style piece this week?" Chen Ke probed.

"No, this week I'm going for pure hardcore rap." He added, "In English."

"English hardcore rap?" Xiao Wa exclaimed. "That's too difficult for a live performance!"

"That's exactly why I have to give it my all!" Zhang Qiyang said with a surge of emotion. "Those idiots in the industry said my tongue isn't fast enough to rap. Some even said that if I could win a championship with rap, they’d livestream themselves fanning their own crotch with an electric fan—on the highest setting! Ha! I'll give them the chance to use that electric fan and really enjoy themselves!"

Zhang Qiyang gave a confident, wicked smile. Chen Ke and Li Xuan were left speechless. They could both tell that Zhang Qiyang was being stubborn.

To be fair, with Zhang Qiyang's vocal ability and musical talent, if he just sang normal songs, he would have been a massive hit long ago! Yet, he insisted on playing it weird. If he wasn't singing those old, nauseating songs, he was singing these off-the-wall, bizarre tracks. Now, he was even challenging himself with rap! He was just making life difficult for himself. Doing rap would greatly diminish the charm of his vocals!

Playing pure rap on the stage of *My Song* was too risky. No singer had attempted such a challenge before! If he couldn't handle the rhythm during a live rap, he would be a total failure! Especially with English rap—the audience wouldn't even understand the lyrics, and having to read subtitles while listening would ruin the experience. Plus, English rap was inherently difficult! Even as someone who had studied abroad, the chance of him making mistakes while rapping in a non-native language was high. He had finished last place just last week; he was facing a huge risk of elimination this week.

And yet, he was choosing to challenge English rap! My god! Could he be any more insane? Why was he being so stubborn? Chen Ke really wanted to advise him not to take such reckless risks, but she knew his personality was too strong—advice would be useless, so she could only sigh in silence.

Li Xuan was also worried he would fall into a trap. If he stumbled again this week and got eliminated, the remaining episodes of *My Song* would be at least half as boring for her! She didn't want to lose this comrade and rival! But seeing how determined he was, she couldn't say much and could only pray in her heart that he would be lucky enough to survive. As for their bet, she figured she was guaranteed to win and would finally get to see what his cooking was like.

Only Xiao Wa still held high expectations for Zhang Qiyang's rap. Although live English rap was extremely difficult, who was Brother Pao? A super genius! If he fought with everything he had, he might just blow the roof off the place! Xiao Wa couldn't wait for the weekend.

Zhang Qiyang changed the subject, finishing the bottom-stitching work on Li Xuan's new shoes and writing out the lyrics and notation for "Dark Sky." Just as he was starting to write the piano score for the arrangement, Qin Xueyang returned, laden with two large bags of late-night snacks.

As soon as she entered the room and saw Zhang Qiyang writing furiously, the chubby girl stretched her neck and asked, "Are you writing a new song for Sister Xuan?"

Xiao Wa said excitedly, "Brother Pao wrote a super brilliant adaptation of a nursery rhyme for our Xuan!"

"Nursery rhyme adaptation?" Qin Xueyang blurted out without thinking, "It's not going to be another ridiculous piece like 'Song of the Fifth Ring,' is it?"